


Duality

by DelphinieN



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Drama, F/M, Metaphors, Romance, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 21:38:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15958058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DelphinieN/pseuds/DelphinieN
Summary: "Just shoot me, Kagome." He speaks while staring straight into her blue eyes. If this is what she wants, then he will be glad to go over where she stands and pull the trigger. [Completed]





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; all the characters belong to their rightful owner, Rumiko Takahashi. No money or profit is made on this fiction (This disclaimer applies to all chapters after this unless it is stated otherwise and if there are any next chapters).

Notes: Grammar, punctuation and word choice might be wrong because I have done all the editing by myself (and I cannot find all of my mistakes even if I try).  _By reading this story, you are at your own risk of seeing terrible grammar_  (you have been warned). On a side note, this story is inspired by the song called "Shoot me" by Day6; it is the reason why this story is here.

I have no intention of continuing this one-shot; at least not any time soon. I still have the other huge project (i.e, Erotes' Touch) to finish, which will probably take forever at my pace of writing and with constant distractions. I just want to post this story because I have been stuck with this idea for so long now. Either way, I hope someone enjoys reading this, even if this story makes no sense.

 ** _Read the following notes after you have finished reading the story (spoilers alert):_**  I have purposefully left the male character's name out of the story. The main reason is to add a layer of mystery in here (though it may do no good for me and make the story hard to read); and because I want the readers to insert whichever character they deem to be appropriate for the story. I'm a SessKag shipper; so… Who knows, maybe I will come back to this story one day, insert a name somewhere in here and ruin everything.

As for the real meaning behind this one-shot, each person may see different meaning from different perspective. I may, or may not, reveal my true intention when writing this short story in the next chapter, or on my profile if there is no next chapter (it also depends on the number of people wanting to know the true meaning).  _I'd like you, the reader, to tell me what you see from your point of view_.

Reviews (even flames) are welcomed and appreciated.

* * *

**Duality : Pull the Trigger.**

Digging his nail into the tip of his index finger, the dull pain reminds him this is the real world. He finds it a bit strange since he never realizes he is in a movie right now. He must be in a thriller movie, judging by the look on her face.

In this dimly-lit room, the moonlight makes its presence known through the clear window. With no curtains obstructing the view, the illuminating crescent lights up the sombre place with a touch of unseen magic. If the two people were to bother glancing outside, they would have discovered the dark sky filled with twinkling stars, as though it comes straight out from an expensive painting. This rare scenery has left a trace of romance in the air for this restless metropolis.

But the atmosphere in this very room is nothing but tranquillity; it is so heavy that he may as well inhale cement straight to his lungs. It feels poisonous even, but he shoves that thought aside since he'd be dead by now if the oxygen was indeed lethal. He keeps reminding himself to breathe, no matter how thick the air seems to be. With each second passes by, he begins to feel light-headed; as his knees start to feel weak, he decides to take a seat down.

The high-pitched screeching noise disrupts the harsh silence between the two sole humans in the area; he does not care one bit if that sudden sound startles the woman seemingly standing in front of him. Carelessly, he throws himself onto the crappy plastic chair; he knows it is uncomfortable but this chair is the only one available in this place. Beggars can't be choosers, he supposes; seconds after, the dense air once again invades the silent room. This time, the atmosphere seems thicker than ever.

Like a puppet, he sits there quietly to catch his breath; there is no sound in this room, not even the noise of him heavily breathing. The woman, whom he cherishes with all of his heart, folds her hands onto her chest as she leans back on the cold wall; she displays no symptom of being fatigue from inhaling this deadly air. He wonders if she is even conscious of these insignificant details; or if she is the one poisoned the air in the first place. Maybe it is the latter option.

He scratches the notion away; there is no way this woman will do it. If she wishes to kill him, she will not perform something as frivolous as releasing dangerous toxins into the air like this. After all, she is the holder of his heart; she can simply crush it in the palms of her hands if she chooses to. Not that this bewitching woman will undertake that action; he knows her way too well. He tells himself to quit being delusional, and the oxygen is not lethal. It is just his imagination, probably.

As he takes a couple of seconds to get his breath back, he stares into the woman standing before him. Her raven hair used to be so straight; but now, some strands clump together and stick onto her neck. She has made no sound so far, but he vows he can pick up the deafening echoes of her heartbeat from this distance. Peering into her eyes, he used to consider that blue colour is the most beautiful shade on this earth. But not anymore; that cerulean hue is so cold, it makes ice feel warm.

_Click._

The blue-eyed woman draws out a pistol, with everything loaded and ready to be fired. The polished metal frame almost shines as the radiant moonlight hits its body. He has seen and heard of different guns on the movie screens and real life, but this is the first time he sees one reflecting the light like this. This minor detail manages to make him lose his track of thoughts; for some miracles, he is able to gather his attention towards the current situation again.

But as soon as he looks into those murky cerulean orbs, he cannot form any words at the tip of his tongue; different phrases jumble in his brain and none of them make any sense. In his defence, it is rather hard to express anything when someone points a gun at his head.

How odd, he has always recognized her to be a gentle soul; he'd have never foreseen her aiming this pistol at him. He knows reasonably well that every couple must go through this stage; the two parties will hold their guns against each other once or twice a month, with both parties survive with little to no injuries. Is this the norm in this mad world? It must be as he feels the heavy weight on his right pocket.

Taking a brief second to look at the woman again, he notices something about her has changed. Her pale skin is now glowing, with a hint of red in them; the blue shade in her eyes turns a bit darker, as though a storm is coming. The gun in her hands seems like it weighs a ton, as she struggles to keep it up straight; her hands shake ever so slightly, his eyes almost miss that small detail. Despite what they are going through right now, he still thinks she is the most beautiful woman in this world.

His mind decides to take on a small trip into the past at this very moment. He realizes they may have fought more than once or twice every month; they also may have left some scars onto each other. Trailing down from her pretty face, he notices a long scar extended along her left arm; another one peeks out from under the collar of her shirt. He silently wonders if he is the one who caused these ugly scars to be permanently tattooed on her silky skin. It must be as the weight in his pocket reminds him of all the history between them.

Well, to be fair, she is not the only one who got injured; he too has his fair share in this matter. He traces the outline of a wound located on the base of his neck unconsciously; the bumpy feeling of a scar, which has healed but forever made it presence there, gives a chill straight down his spine. Moving his hand lower, he detects an almost identical scar spreading across his rib cage, right where his heart should be. The wound faintly stings as he thinks of the reason why it is there in the first place. It must be her, the woman pointing a gun at his head who caused this.

A voice so akin to his own says this enticing woman is the one created these disfigurements, and he should despise her for doing this despicable thing to his body. He should scorn her for even attempting to point this pistol at his face, with full intention of creating another injury on his blemished heart. Does this woman not learn a single thing during their relationship? She should realize he can simply pull out his handgun and shoot her before she can even fire her pistol.

He knows this should be the last time they play this foolish game; he should let her kill him and end everything right here. He knows he needs to do so, but he cannot.

As he stares back into her dark blue eyes once more time, memories start flowing through his brain. Every time he gets home after a long day at work, a hearty dinner is always ready on the dining table as she patiently waits for him to come and eat with her. He repeatedly tells her to go ahead and finish her portion before he gets home; but she invariably shows him a small laugh, which is enough to brighten up his day, and states she does not wish him to eat in the dark by himself. He softly smiles at that short recollection.

Or whenever she is sick, she still tries to get up and cook some food; though she will eventually collapse in the middle of the corridor for trying way too hard. He then has to carry her back to their bedroom and scold her like a child; she'll proceed to cry like one as well, before he gives her a kiss on her forehead and tells her everything will be all right. A warm feeling spreads across his heart as he remembers the way she falls asleep right afterwards.

Another memory surges back to life, taking over the existing ones with more lively images; it reveals them staying in this same room. It is pitch-black inside instead; neither luminescence nor any source of light traverses to this cramped place. But, this time, she is the one sitting in this very chair; no, she scrambles to sit up. Black hair mostly covers her pretty face, except for her eyes. This time, the blue eyes show a hefty dose of fear and terror instead.

A sudden force churns his gut upside down, compelling him to search around for any signs of menaces. He wonders if there is a monster standing in front of her. He suddenly feels sick as he looks into the ominous shadow looming over her small frame; as it closer and closer, she suddenly shrieks in horror. He orders his mind to think of something else before he throws up at this feeling of disgust. He tells himself everything is just an awful dream; he would never do anything this terrible to her.

The unpleasant flashback fades away as promptly as it shows up; his soul gradually feels lighter as many other wonderful memories begin to overflow his mind like endless tidal waves. Ignoring the odd memory, he revels in all the times they have shared together. If he has to learn one thing from this, it is that all of these harsh arguments are worth it. After all, when everything is said and done, she will give him a hug and apologize for snapping at him like this; he will regret what he has done to drive her pointing a gun at him. After that, everything will go back to normal.

He should have seen this coming; it has gotten old at this point. Their words will be up against each other; each phrase will become harsher and sharper than the previous one. Then, if words are not enough, they will draw their guns out; just like what she is undertaking at this moment. But it will be over soon since she will learn to forgive for whatever mistakes he has carried out. Yes, that is their routine; but despite everything they have gone through, he is certain his affection for her is still alive and going strong.

Because of that, he chooses not to pull out his handgun; he will not let their wonderful love die so easily. He will never give her up, not in a million years to someone else.

Her hands slightly shake, causing the gun to produce a strange noise; it wakes him up from his daydreaming in the midst of the night. He doubts she has done it on purpose; but either way, he is grateful for her making him concentrate back on reality. Right now, he wishes to skip everything in between and go straight to the ending. He wants to hold her in his arms and says sorry for everything he has done.

But considering the ice layer still shown through her eyes, he can tell it will take a while before he can achieve what he wants. Leaning back against the chair, he may as well get used to sitting on this uncomfortable seat before this argument is over. He notices the way the shimmering moonlight illuminates her eyes; it makes them look normal again, without all the bitter and harsh feelings. He likes it like this, much better than the coldness underneath her eyes.

Her hands shake more than ever before; anxiety is written all over her face by now. He can see these little details without requiring much light. He is ready now; if this is what she wishes, he will take these bullets at any time. If shooting him makes her feel better, then he will be glad to go over where she stands and pull the trigger. She should fire those bullets at him now to get everything over with, he quietly tells her. Shoot him and forgive him already, he silently begs her.

"It's over," her sweet voice pierces through the silent space, making it louder than anything he has ever heard. Those two simple words puncture through his heart; they even make his ears ring constantly. In all honesty, that plain phrase seems to be more powerful than mere bullets as it keeps echoing inside his head. Each word gets lodged in his heart, causing everything to hurt so bad; he can hardly breathe at this point. And with every breath he takes, her words dig further into the old wounds, penetrating through them and reaching to a new depth he has never known.

Holding onto his chest, he fears his heart may cease to work at any time due to this immense pain. As seconds pass by, he feels like as though she just applies alcohol straight to his open wound. The pain stretches towards all of his nerves, causing him to feel temporarily numb; maybe this is how being submerged in frozen ice feels like. Will this be another scar tattooed on his heart?

It doesn't matter; even if there are millions of wounds like this, he is prepared to take them all. He will do anything to keep her by his side. He wonders if she has ever felt this kind of pain; he is certain the answer is no since he will never have enough power to cause her to be in this anguish stage.

Taking a second to recover his breath, he is positive now that he is in a drama movie, not a thriller one; because this woman possesses no intention to kill him. She just prefers to torture him until he is broken, until he cuts off the string which binds them together. But he is not that weak; he never was and never will be. He is ready to endure anything to preserve their relationship; he is ready to be hurt again and again before she takes back those words. He will stand tall in front of all these challenges and prove to her that he is willing to make their relationship work again.

He is not ready to give up on her yet. No, he loves her too much to ever say the final goodbye; and he promises her that he will prove his affection and devotion for her after this whole situation is over. He begs her for another chance to be a better man, to make amends for all of his mistakes.

He silently prays she does not mean those bitter words; he hopes she merely expresses them due to anxiety. But, if she means each and every word, she may as well finish him off with all the bullets in that pistol right now. He truly cannot imagine a life without her; the reason for his existence is her and her alone. He will be in a living hell, a dark void every single day if she is not his side; and he has no interest in finding out about it. He'd rather die than to live in that land of nightmares.

He does not predict everything to escalate like this; all he ever wants is a bit of romance in his life to lighten up this boring life. But reality often reminds him that everything is often harsher than what everyone expects. As soon as he assumes to have discovered the one, everything has to be so troublesome and very simple to eradicate with a lone bullet. No, he tells himself that a mere bullet will not sever their relationship so easily; he will become a shield if he can to protect the only precious matter in his life.

"Just shoot me, Kagome." He speaks while staring straight into her blue eyes. A tiny bit of hesitation and frighten peeks through the darkened colour of her eyes; maybe she does not mean what she says after all. As she puts her finger on the trigger, his eyes do not move from hers, not even an inch; he trusts her to consider their future together. He believes he can make everything better once this fight is over. He hopes she can see the determination in him at this very moment. He thinks their love will…

_Bang._


	2. Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her fairy tale may be unconventional, but at least it would have a happy ending.

Notes: I said in the previous chapter I don't want to continue this story; but, the muse has called to me once more. And I have to respond to it; so please forgive me. I have no idea why I went with this concept; but…. I did. So, if it seemed weird, it was my fault for not delivering the concept good enough. A side note, this chapter is written for the monthly prompt "fairy tale" (September 2018); it is the reason why this chapter is here (I am still unsure whether I should fully continue or not).

Seeing a lot of wonderful response about each people's opinion on the previous chapter (on other sites), it makes me so happy; and because of it, I've decided to not reveal to true meaning until the last chapter (or on my profile if I am unable to continue this any further). I'm very sorry for breaking my promise; but, I want people to interpret their own story before me putting the stamp at the end.

With that in mind, can you tell me whether you think this chapter is somehow connected to the last one or not? Or, is it simply just a collection of unconnected one-shot with a random theme in each one? I'd like you, the reader, to tell me what you see from your point of view.

Reviews (even flames) are welcomed and appreciated.

* * *

 **Duality** **: Ever After**

Opening the novel, her fairy tale began as soon as he entered into her sombre life.

He was so terribly handsome and must be the most beautiful creature in this world. Even if he could not notice her from this distance, she could still look at him with no problems; to be fair, who could have missed his magnificent luminosity? In just a quick pulse, he appeared out of nowhere, disturbing this peaceful night. He shone so brilliantly, even the deep bottom of her heart was being illuminated by his glowing magic. She could not take her eyes off him, not that she wanted to look elsewhere.

He must be the prince from a distant continent, who was here to sweep her off her feet. And together, they would head towards the sunset on top of the white clouds and live happily ever after in his vast kingdom. She had waited all her life for him to finally show up, and he did not disappoint her.

This stranger drew oxygen right out of her lungs at the first moment their eyes made contact; it was enough to send butterflies straight to her stomach and electrical shocks through her spine. She could not turn down the temptation even if she wanted to; her whole heart and mind completely agreed to approach this stranger within a heartbeat. As though he performed a spell on her, she slowly moved towards his figure. She preferred to run towards where he stood; but, she did not want to appear desperate in his eyes.

It suddenly clicked in her clouded mind: he must be what her people called Flame, the species that was most attractive to her kind. The Flame tribe did not flourish in large groups, similar to her kind; no one truly knew what their habitats looked like. They were quite mysterious, and so was their origin.

The clan was rumoured to be cursed by the Giants; all the men and women in tribe must glow, no matter if it was day or night. And once their light died out, so would their lives. They could only survive alongside with the Giants, whom would preserve their luminosity until the tribe people were no longer required for their services.

Because the combinations of various factors, it was rather an extraordinary sight to observe a Flame person like him with no Giants nearby. Most people would go through most of their lives without seeing a Flame alone like this, and she took every second to bathe in his glorious beauty. She had always told other people that there was no such phenomenon such as love at first sight, despite being a hopeless romantic; but, she was ready to take every single word back. If the tug between her and this handsome male was not real, she did not know what would be.

The sluggish pace was killing her from the inside; she craved to stretch her wings widely and be by his side under a minute. She wished to be the first one to talk to him and be the only person to have his complete attention for the rest of the night. Deciding to give a middle finger to her initial plan, she picked up the pace; she needed to get to where he stood before the night ended.

In the faint distance, she could hear someone screaming, ordering her to cease being absurd and stay away from that man; the unknown person's voice was so loud, she almost considered it to come from her own mind for a split of a second. But, that just could not be true; or else, she might truly be insane by now. She wondered why someone would even suggest her to do such action; that person must be blind by this newcomer's beauty to say such a ludicrous thing. She decided to ignore the shouting sound as she failed to recognize that familiar voice

As she got closer, the stranger was all she could look at; well, it was rather tough to see anything else as his presence literally covered her vision with his warm light. Maybe this was what sunlight felt like; she had heard a number of tales about the burning sphere in the sky, but never had the opportunity to observe it with her own eyes. But, it did not matter; she had discovered her own sun, the only one she would be eager to orbit if he commanded her to do so.

Too occupied from admiring his celestial elegance, she did not notice the escalating heat. At first, it was mild, relatively pleasant in this crisp autumn night. It prompted her memories of those summer nights where she lied around in her bed and slept all night and day; it was her one of her favourite times. But, with each stride she took, the heat became more intense. She could feel the beads of sweat clung onto her forehead and neck; but, she paid no attention to any of the insignificant details as she continued drawing closer.

But, at some point, she had to stop getting any closer; her muscles did not want to move towards this mysterious glowing figure. So, she stretched her left hand out, wanting to capture his attention. But, as soon as she touched his skin, her fingers burned from the contact.

Letting out a yelp, she pulled her hand back promptly; it felt as though her whole hand had been burned instead of just the tips of her fingers. Trying to wiggle them, she found herself lacking the strength to do so, completely ignoring the fact that his skin was transparent when she touched. She had seen wilder things in the bug kingdom.

She could see vague red marks on the tips of her fingers; blowing on it, the brief air cooled down the burning sensation, though it came back as soon as she ceased doing so. She hoped there would be no scar as the red areas throbbed badly; she could practically hear the sound of her heart pounding against her ribcage as adrenaline flooded through the system. Either that or her heart was merely fluttering before the handsome fellow; it was probably the latter one.

Putting her hands on her back, she did not want him to see any disfigurements on her at this moment, or in the future. "Hello, I'm Kagome. And you are?" She gripped her palms tightly together despite the pain, struggling to stop the impulse of extending them when greeting someone new. It was even more awkward as the newcomer just stood there, almost as though he was assessing her inside and out. That ominous feeling did not seem to bother her at all.

After long seconds of hearing nothing, she gave him a small laugh to break the dreaded silence; maybe he was not much of a talker. Either that or he was just really shy. Being as oblivious to everything, Kagome chose to break the ice; she started chatting about the night and how refreshing it was. And from that, she branched out to new topics; she even brought up the time she saw the first ray of sunrise.

And the conversation went on and on; there seemed to be no end to this one-sided talk. Either not noticing his non-existent response or choosing to pay no attention to it, she continues talking about frivolous matters. The noise of chaotic pleading and screaming in the background did not break the spell between the enigmatic intruder and her; all the blinded woman could do is to let everything go and revel in this pleasant encounter.

It was the middle of the night when she took a short rest from the incessant talking; it was the first time Kagome spoke to someone outside of her species that did not make fun of her appearance. Looking up to the radiant full moon, she had a good feeling this is the night where she was rescued from her mundane life. Yes, she was confident that this man would be the ticket to her happy ending.

Turning around, she was about to ask his opinion about the beauty of the crescent; but words got wedged in her esophagus. The light from him seemed to illuminate more than ever, as well as the growing temperature; she was convinced it was his glow that protected her from autumn night's howling wind. But, what captured her attention was what rested in the middle of his torso. Whatever that object was, it seemed to be the cause of his intense heat. It mesmerized to look in it; something tugged her heart. She wondered if he could feel this inexplicable pull as well.

The longer Kagome stared at the mysterious root, the closer she got without realizing. Her feet moved unconsciously as though she was simply being dragged towards his magnificent body. Maybe, that glowing center was his heart; that must be why it shone so brightly. Or, it could be the source of the curse. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head: if she could get a grip on it, maybe she could free him from the curse. Or if the obscure core was his heart, and she was able to get her hand on it, he would be hers eternally. Either way, her fairy tale would have a happy ending.

With her eyes glued towards the unknown glowing root, she didn't recognize how the heated air blew on her forehead, causing her to feel uncomfortably nauseating; her back was soaked with sweats as the heat kept rising with every second goes by. Reaching her hand out, she wished to touch the origin of all this light. The tips of her fingers burned before she could reach to the core; the light flared up, as though it wanted to secure its heart.

Pulling her palm back, the burning sensation now started to spread all over her hand; maybe, this was a bad plan. Perhaps, the sound of someone sobbing in the background was a signal for something might go awry here. Ignoring the crimson spots on her fingers and the crying noise, Kagome determined to try it one more time. Nothing would come in the way between her and her happy ending. Not even a bit of pain or the unresponsive prince.

This might be her last chance before withering as an old maid; she would give one-hundred percent of her effort to obtain her dream. It did not matter that her prince did not show up here to rescue her; it did not affect her story that the prince was the one being cursed. She would be the one seized his heart or released him from this curse, whichever it might be; after all, she had the leading role in this novel as well. Her fairy tale may be unconventional, but at least it would have a happy ending.

Reaching out once more, she drew closer to the glowing center. She almost had the shinning core in the palm of her hand, though she could not feel any of her fingers at this moment. Everything burned, from her hands to her shoulder; chaotic voices in her head told her to stop being irrational and get away from the unfamiliar man. But she heard none of it; instead, all she picked up was the echo of her heart hammering against her chest. Kagome was so close that she could practically feel her happy ending waiting for her after this whole trial was over.

For a moment, she felt as if he embraced her within the radiant light; for just a second, she felt as though he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. A burning sensation spread across her chest; she wondered if it was from the foreign feeling called love. Or, was it because his dancing flames virtually surrounded her at this moment? Maybe, it was the first option. Yes, this scorching feeling must be love; she had finally uncovered what she was missing from her whole life.

She assumed this was the time her prince charming would tell her that she had released him from this wicked curse; the next second would be him proclaiming his love for her, despite the meager time they had spent together. Kagome patiently waited for that minute to arrive while struggling to return his embrace; she enclosed two of her hands around the shinning core as she expected him to drop the love words at any moment.

The second her fingers made the first contact with the enigmatic essence, a thunderbolt had struck her entire body, and that was certainly not a desirable event. Slumping down on the ground, she could not command even a single muscle; her face was planted down on the mud. She preferred to move as her air supply was dropping low, but even wiggling her toes felt painful. Dirt got into her mouth and nostril as she desperately found any source of air. After long seconds of bitterness, she eventually found enough strength to lift her face off the ground; any other task might be futile at this point.

But, the moment she saw what stood in front of her, Kagome wished she still buried her face down in the mud. She would rather be suffocated than seeing this appalling spectacle. The surrounding flame was no longer calm and seemingly gentle as before. No, these flames were hot red, flaring with every breath she drew; there was not a single place in her body that could not feel the obvious intense heat. In spite of the current situation, all she could sense was the icy blast every time his flame moved.

She could not explain why she felt like this, but she was terrified. She could not put into words what she was seeing aside from the blazing flame; all she knew was her instinct telling her to run. For once, she did not put up a fight; she tried to stretch her wings to fly off this place, but nothing transpired. She had no time to worry about her damaged limbs; she needed to get moving now before anything worse may take place. The nauseating hot air seemed to make the beads of sweat freeze in her foreheads; she even felt crystals begin to form in her lungs.

Picking herself up, she collapsed back to the ground immediately due to the absence of physical strength; but she nevertheless did not give up. Dragging her body through the muddy dirt, her arms trembled uncontrollably with each push. Keep going, Kagome ordered herself as she noticed the black landscape in the distance; she never felt so relieved to see darkness than ever before. As the actual raw wind hits her numbing skin, she forced herself even harder. She was so close that she could practically savour the moonlight on the tip of her tongue.

Before the darkness could take her to the safe haven, the barrier of fire surged up violently and blocked her from the only escape route. Everything was just an illusion, she told herself; he must have the power to manipulate her mind. Thrusting her left hand forwards, she was about to demonstrate this wall of flame was not real; but, she soon regretted her decision.

Letting out a high pitch cry, it almost drowned out the immeasurable pain burning into her arms. Her right hand barely held her face up from the mud as her scream pierced through the hushed night. A pool of clear liquid slowly mixed into the muddy soil; Kagome could not tell whether it was from the trails of tears or the saliva dripped from her mouth as she kept screaming. Her left arm was absolutely paralyzed; she could not feel a single thing besides the wretched suffering.

Biting down on her tongue, she would let any more screams to slip away from her lips; she would let this man have the gratification of humiliating her any further. The metal taste of blood slowly evades her taste buds while streams of tears left a messy trail on her filthy face. Her whole body quivered wildly as she tried to hold down the unbearable pain.

The sole object was with her at this moment was the shimmering moon which barely peeked through this blazing barricade; though she could not differentiate between the moonlight and the infernal light, she could nevertheless sense its presence providing some warmth within this wall of fire for some miracles. Barely lifting her face up, she could finally look at the beautiful crescent. Kagome had never recognized how pretty the moon was, despite it being her companion for every lonely night. The longer she stared at it, the more she wished to flee from this hellish place.

She was foolish; she should have never let her emotions run wild from the beginning. She wished she had learned that he was too good to show up out of nowhere for her and only her. She should have realized all the red flags before getting herself into this mess. There was neither a prince charming nor a happy ending waiting for her at the end of the rainbow. She should have accepted that life was not a fairy tale, and she was not a princess in the story from the starting point.

Because if she were, this so-called prince charming would not turn into a monster; no, she took back those words, he was not her knight in polished armour when this magical fairy tale began. He was simply an abominable beast from the beginning, hiding beneath this splendid appearance. He was a clever monster, waiting for someone to get close enough before exposing his proper form and feeding on the moron. And she was ludicrous enough to fall for his simple trap; she was truly a fool, wasn't she?

Closing her eyes, the darkness weirdly calmed her down at this agonizing time, perhaps because the vivid flame was all she could look at. Kagome ordered herself to breathe in, despite each breath appeared as though needles pierced into her lungs. She chose to overlook the gloomy shadow cast in front of her body; instead, she concentrated on the positive factors for the first time in her life. For instance, she formulated a plan to escape this nightmare; and she preferred to consider it would work.

The chilly breeze somehow made its way to her face, in spite of her body being inundated by the ocean of wildfire; she felt grateful for the unknown force of nature. One second was all she required to strengthen her mental state; the usage of her physical state now belonged to the random chance of whether her nerves would carry out her command or not. Opening her eyes, the flames reflected back on her blue eyes, causing them to turn into a magenta shade. Turning around, she was ready to challenge the monster by herself.

"It's Inuyasha."

The flat honeyed voice was the last sound Kagome heard before the blinding flame engulfed her entire body. But, just before everything turned into the colour white, a complete story flashed through her mind: the prince charming turned into a monster, and the princess realized she was merely a peasant from the beginning. There was no knight in dazzling armour coming to save the lowlife moth; there was no happy ending for her.

For the first time, Kagome felt to be fine by that idea; if she had to battle this beast by herself, so be it. She was nevertheless the main character of this nonsense story after all; if no one showed up to shield her from this calamity, she would fight with all she could. If no one adored her, she would love herself instead; if no one appreciated her presence, then it was their loss. She needed someone to love her for who she was, not a prince charming or a happy ending.

Flipping over to the next page, this was the end of her fantasy.


End file.
